Thirteen Weddings
by queenlunamoth
Summary: It's spring in Konoha, and arranged marriages abound. See who will step up to the task and who won't. SasuHina, Konan/Yamato, ShikaTem and nine other pairings yet to be announced.
1. Arrangements: The First Batch

Hinata was heating the water for tea when the summons came.

It came from none other than Neji. She knew at once that something was amiss. He would not meet her gaze, staring instead at the tea kettle, his eyes disinterested but wide, as though he'd suffered a shock that had left him unable to reason.

"Your father wants us in his study," he said.

Hinata waited for him to say more; for him to give her a hint of the bad news that was to follow. But after standing there a moment, he seemed to come back to himself. He whipped around and hurried back down the corridor.

Hinata turned the heat off on the stove. She counted back the hours since she'd awakened. Nothing stood out in her memory. The servants had behaved as usual when she had made her way through the compound down to the kitchens. As usual, Kenji, the cook's apprentice, had protested when she came to prepare the tea herself, but, as usual, it was mostly for show. The servants were used to her habits by now, and she thought they understood. It was not possible that they live under the same roof and not hear of everything that went on within the walls. They knew of her failings. They knew that this was one of the very few ways by which she could prove herself a capable and dutiful daughter.

The day had stared off the same as always. Hanabi had been snoring lightly when Hinata had passed by her room, so nothing could have happened to her. Her feeling of dread eased. Maybe one of the clan elders had died. That group was always bossing her father around, telling him he needed a stronger heir, preferably a male one. But if that was so, why had Neji seemed distressed?

Hinata removed her apron and headed for the stairs. On the landing outside her father's study, she met Hanabi, who was blinking sleepily and looking just as puzzled as Hinata felt. At thirteen, she was a better ninja than Hinata had been, but still she could not be placed on the same level with Neji. Hinata gasped. Was that what her father was going to tell them? She had her sister knew the day would come sooner or later. She was resigned to it. Neji would make a better clan leader, no one could deny it. Still, she was not sure that she was ready to hear it today.

Neji was waiting by the door, and still not meeting their eyes. When they reached him, he opened it, and together they crowded inside Hyuuga Hiashi's study.

Hiashi was doing paperwork, and did not look up at first, though there was no doubt he had heard them come in. None of them dared to interrupt him, not even with a polite cough of clearing of the throat. Hinata watched Neji while they waited. She imagined he grew paler by the moment. Her own heart was pounding. Her father was kind in many ways, but cruel in just as many others. He had no regard for their lives as individuals. Whatever other plans they had could be postponed for his. It was not his responsibility to assuage their fears, but it was their duty to wait until he deemed the time appropriate.

When at last he raised his head, though, Hinata could see no cruelty there. Only a deep, weary sadness.

"Ah. You're all here." He closed his ledger book and folded his hands together on top of it. "Sit down, all of you. I expect we will be here for a while."

His request was unusual. Always before, when they were summoned to his study, they had to stand for the duration of the meeting. It was part of the protocol, serving to remind them, as they were constantly reminded, that he was their superior. To sit down with him in his study was to behave like… a family. Hinata gulped as she sat down in the chair Neji had pulled out for her.

Hiashi sighed and plunged ahead. "It has been brought to my attention recently that two of you are of an age to be married, and the other quite old enough to be engaged." He stared down at his hands, clasped together so tightly his knuckled showed white. Hinata knew her father well enough to see that if he were anyone else, he would be wringing his hands and pulling out his hair. "I have been neglectful of my duties to the clan," he admitted crisply, as though to get it over with as son as possible. "I… I have put my personal wishes above that of the clan. I wanted…"

He looked up at the three of them, then, and Hinata drew in a shocked breath. His eyes were brimming with tears.

Too often, it was hard to think of her father as human. If someone had asked her that morning if she had ever seen her father cry, she would have said that she hadn't. But seeing him like this brought back memories. Hanabi's birth, the blood on the sheets the servants carried out of her mother's room. Snow falling, the deepest winter she could remember. And then the closed doors, the hushed voices. Not understanding what was happening, she'd snuck out of the nursery late one night and went to knock on her father's door. Even at six years, she could not mistake the tears streaming down his face, the deep lines of grief. She had known, without him having to say it, that her mother was dead. Hiashi had taken her into his arms and wept, never explaining why. The next morning, she had woken up back in the nursery, and the servants had come to dress her in a black kimono and take her down to her mother's funeral.

She had stood beside her father during the whole thing. Watching his face, dry-eyed and composed, she had decided it must have all been a dream.

It seemed she had been wrong.

"I wanted…" Hiashi was still speaking. "Our fates were chosen for us, Hizashi and I." He looked to Neji, his eyes pleading, and for the first time that morning, Neji met someone's gaze.

"I do not deny that I should have fought against it, even though in the end it would have accomplished nothing. But I did not realize it soon enough. I was the lucky one, in more ways than one. My bride was chosen for me, but we came to love one another. But Hizashi… I know you do not remember your mother, Neji. Understand that I mean no disrespect – she was a kind woman no one could ever find fault with. But she was a poor match for your father."

Hiashi looked at them a moment. He pried his hands apart and placed them in his lap, sitting straighter. "But in many ways, I am the unlucky one." Hinata saw one tear spill over his bottom eyelid. "I am the one who must make the hard decisions. My brother's death brought so many things to the light for me." He swallowed. "I wanted to give you all what my parents had not given me. The freedom of choice. I stalled for so long." Hinata saw one tear spill over his bottom eyelid, trailing a path down his weathered cheek. "But the council has forced my hand."

For the first time since summoning her, Neji broke his silence. "Please, Hyuuga-sama! Tell them!"

Hinata looked at him in surprise. So he already knew. She looked back at her father, wanting to beg him to get it over with, but as always, she was too afraid to speak in his presence.

Hanabi was the one who spoke, her lip trembling. "What do we have to do?"

Hiashi looked over at his youngest daughter, and his face went still. "Nothing, not yet. You, at least, still have some time."

And then he turned his eyes on Hinata. As always, she felt like cringing. All of her life, those eyes had looked on her with disappointment. She had always tried to please him, and always failed. Earning his approval had always been a mountain she knew she would never be able to scale.

She forced herself to look back at him, and her world turned upside down. "Hinata." He reached out a shy hand. She could not help but hesitate, looking first at Hanabi, then at Neji. "It's all right." Hiashi's voice trembled with emotion. "I never meant to make you fear me."

Hinata reached for his hand, her fingers shaking so badly that she could not return a good grip, and her hand slipped out of his before he reclaimed it.

"Forgive me." Hiashi took a deep breath. "The council has arranged your marriage to the traitor, Uchiha Sasuke."

-----------------------------

Somewhere on the far side of Konoha, Sasuke sneezed.

Someone was talking about him.

He tilted his ear toward the living area of the former team Taka's apartment. Karin and Suigetsu had been arguing all morning about the household accounts. His room was the most isolated, but he was still able to hear the voices if he listened, especially when they were raised.

"Thirty crates of bottled water!" Karin was screaming. "Do you think we're made of gold or something? And where the hell do you expect me to store it? It's not going in my room!"

Their living quarters were growing more and more crowded. Karin did have a point, Sasuke had to admit; Suigetsu held onto money as easily as one could hold onto water. And they had been unable to earn anymore, not since they had come to Konoha. Before, they could draw on Orochimaru's resources, or they even could have done freelance work. But now that he had decided to come back, and his team to accompany him, they were stuck until the council of Konoha deemed them loyal enough to join the ranks of leaf shinobi – or, in his case, rejoin.

Sasuke's interest faded as Suigetsu told Karin just where she could store the bottled water. They weren't the ones talking about him. Jugo, then? There was a good possibility he was talking to himself. He had been locked up in his room for hours, ever since they got back from the Hokage's tower. Ever since they had heard the council's demands.

Sasuke leaned back on his couch, looking up trough the window at the sky, pale blue scattered with pillow-like clouds.

He could hazard a guess who was talking about him.

The Hyuuga clan.

Family of his bride.

For about the umpteenth time, Sasuke wondered if it was worth it. Marriage to someone he didn't know, just to be accepted in Konoha. One voice in his head told him that he hadn't belonged here to start with. If he had, he wouldn't have left. And why should he have to sacrifice his freedom to a nation that had taken everything else from him already?

But the other voice, the one that had made him come back, the one that had sent him running to Naruto's aid when the jinchuuriki was about to be captured… that voice told him that this was not the same Konoha that had ordered his brother to wipe out their clan. This was a new Konoha, the one he had helped Naruto save and rebuild. _His _Konoha. And if the elders, those whom he could never forgive but would let live for Naruto's sake, if they ordered him to marry a girl he'd never spoken with so that he could remain here, in his home…

He would do anything.

For the first time, he thought he had stumbled across what Itachi must have felt like when they ordered him to murder the Uchiha clan. Sasuke had not been able to understand why his brother had done what he had done, why he had killed everyone – all but one – who was important to him, just for the sake of a nation that was corrupt at its heart. Maybe Itachi had felt the same way, that it was his home, that it was more than his life was worth to protect it.

Maybe. Sasuke's fists clenched. Still, he would bring vengeance to the elders one way or another. He had sworn, after all. Only, he would do it a different way, a more subtle way. When he had first set out on his quest of vengeance, running to learn from Orochimaru, he had not been very wise. He had thought the only way to get revenge was to kill the person who had wronged you. Since then, he had come to learn that there were many, many different types of vengeance. There was humiliation. There was blackmail. There was torture, taking away every joy in a person's life, one by one, until he or she was left alone in utter despair.

And then there was the other way, the way that hurt the least people. He would revive the Uchiha clan, and they would return to their place as the strongest ninjas of Konoha. He would give the elders nothing to find fault with.

And then they would regret what they had done.

There was one problem with his vision, though. When he pictured the revived Uchiha clan, he pictured the old ones, his cousins, his parents, Itachi and himself. But they were gone. The new clan would consist of his descendants. His, and Hyuuga Hinata's.

When he pictured their children, they had Hinata's eyes, ghostly pale and unnerving.

It made his dream all wrong.

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Hinata had come close to death several times in her ninja career, the last, and worst, being when she had tried to defend Naruto from Pein.

Though there was no pain this time, there was still some of the same feeling – the light-headedness, the queasiness, the feeling that she could not quite grasp a hold of consciousness.

She heard voices somewhere, far away. "Get some water." Neji, speaking curtly. "Don't let her fall!" Her father's voice, urgent. Then he was beside her. "Hinata. Hinata, are you all right?"

When she came to, she was sitting on the couch in her father's solar, which adjoined to his study, and he was beside her, holding a damp cloth to her forehead. "Hinata." His face was so close beside her, she could see the depth of the wrinkles on his brow. "If you cannot bear to go through with it, we can think of something. We can find a way out."

But Hinata was not really listening. She was looking at the other two: her little sister, who was too young to even be contemplating engagement, much less marriage, and her cousin, who had already had some much taken from him by the main family. "What about them, To-sama?" she asked, pausing to gasp in a deep breath. "Who do they have to marry?"

Hiashi looked at Hanbi and Neji, and seemed incapable of speaking. Neji opened his mouth, his face going pale before he managed to speak the words. "I am to marry Temari of Suna. And Hanabi is to be betrothed to Kankuro, her brother."

"They are the most powerful family in Suna," Hiashi said into the silence that followed. "We should be pleased with this arrangement."

But even her father could not keep the bleakness from his tone.

Without thinking, Hinata threw her arms around him. He went stiff at first. Then he reached up, very carefully, and placed his hands on her shoulders, as though afraid he might break her.

Hinata found herself sobbing, but for once, she did not feel as though she had to hide her emotions. Everything she knew about the world seemed to have changed in just one moment. She was to marry Sasuke, her love's best friend and former rival. Her father had just apologized to her, and now he was hugging her for the first time since her mother's funeral.

"Hinata, Hinata, please don't cry." Hiashi was crying too as he stroked her hair. "I will send you away if I have to. I will not allow them to do this to us."

Hinata broke away, experiencing a sudden burst of reckless courage, the like of which she had only felt Naruto was in danger. "But we can't all run away, To-sama." She looked up at her cousin, thinking of how he could not meet her gaze that morning. She knew he did not want to marry Temari of the Sand any more than she wanted to marry Sasuke. "If they have to go through with it, then I will too."

Hiashi eyed her with surprise. "Hinata, they will do their duties. You were always the softest of my children, and the Uchiha is a monster who murdered his own brother. He will – "

Hinata interrupted him, her voice low but not at all weak. "I may be the softest," she said, "but I can endure." She refused to break eye contact with him, even when she saw the regret that her words caused him. "I will do my duty to the clan."

Her father gazed up at her, eyes alight with awe. "You'll marry the traitor?" he asked her.

Hinata stood. "Only if you will free one of them instead." She gestured in the general direction of Neji and Hanabi. "Now, tell me. Where do you keep the awamori?"

-----------------------------------

The cherry trees lining the street below the Hokage's tower were in full bloom. The wind was high, bringing a storm, and the petals fell down like rain, filling the gutters with pink.

The Hokage was speaking, her words brushing over Konan like a weak breeze. She caught snippets of words every now and then. "....for your own good…decision was not made in haste…we would be pleased to have a former student of Jiraiya's…"

It had been like this for so long. Two years, Nagato had been gone. And with him, her sanity.

When your reason for living is gone, but you are still breathing, what do you call the state you are in?

It cannot be called life.

"Konan." Tsunade's sharp voice broke through Konan's fog, giving her a rare moment of lucidity. "I need to know your answer. What do you want to do?"

Konan stared back at her, helpless. The Hokage's face brought back memories. Rain, Yahiko and Nagato. The Sannin, traveling through their country. The night Nagato had discovered his Rin'negan, and she'd hidden in the shadows, watching.

She had loved them so much. Her teammates, and Jiraiya too. In her memory of that fateful meeting, there were two strangers. Orochimaru, who was long dead, and the woman before her. Of the six, only the two of them remained.

Jiraiya had taken them in, had taught them ninjutsu. He had taught them how to survive. But after Nagato had died, and Konan would have taken her own life just so that she would no longer be alone, Tsunade had stopped her, and had granted her sanctuary.

Even though she could remember very little of the past two years, she knew the Hokage was doing just as Jiraiya had done. Trying to teach her how to live again.

"I'll do anything you ask me too." Konan's voice was weak with disuse, but earnest.

"Yamato." Tsunade turned to look at the man standing beside her desk. He wore an ANBU vest, and his forehead protector extended downward to frame his face, giving it a square-like appearance. Konan looked at him vaguely. He was staring straight ahead.

"I will do my duty to Konaha," he said crisply.

"Very well." Tsunade's frown was deep, as though she had just finished with an unpleasant business. "The wedding ceremony will be held tonight. I will need your signatures now, however, so that I can present them before the council."

It was only then that Konan began to grasp what was going on. "Hokage," she said. "What –"

Suddenly she felt like she was surrounded by a flurry of movement. Like wings. She remembered how she used to make wings of paper around herself, how Nagato had called her his angel. She had worshiped him like a god. But gods could not die.

Konan gasped and opened her eyes. She was standing in the same place, in the Hokage's tower. Tsunade was leaning forward, a thin stack of papers in one hand, brow wrinkled in concern. A glance at the man showed Konan that his face had not changed, but his eyes, at least, had turned to her.

"Konan. I know this is a hard thing to ask of you, but the village elders will have it no other way." She looked deep into Konan's eyes. "This is the only way you can stay."

Konan felt the fog began to come back over her, as she felt her heartbeat quicken. Understanding moved back out of her grasp, but she understood that what the Hokage had just told her was bad. If she could not stay here, where else was there to go? Nagato had always been by her side. The dark shadow she always knew was there, somewhere behind her. But now he was nowhere. There was not a place in the world where he could be found, and so there was no place that she could go.

"No," she said, her voice surprising her with its desperate pleading. "I don't want to go."

"You don't have to," Tsunade said with an odd expression that Konan later came to understand was one of deepest pity. "Just sign the papers, and you will be a citizen of Konoha."

------------------------

Shizune peered into the doorway of the Hokage's office. It was dark inside, though it was still late afternoon. The clouds had taken all the light from the sky, and the rain outside the windows formed a nearly opaque curtain. The day's business had been wrapped up, but Tsunade was still seated at her desk, staring straight ahead. That was unusual, especially in such a peaceful time.

"Tsunade-sama." Shizune spoke up to be heard over the hammering of the rain on the roof. "Are we done for today?"

She felt Ton-Ton wriggling in her grasp, impatient to be home. Tsunade turned to face her. Shizune knew at once that her senpai was not in a good mood from the worry lines on her forehead, the pinched look to her face.

"No," Tsuande said. "Send for the next batch. I want all of this mess over with as soon as possible." With a sigh, she leaned back into her chair, stretching. "Would you see to it that my ceremonial robes are laid out? I have a wedding to attend tonight."


	2. Arrangements: The Second Batch

Sakura ducked inside the entrance to the Hokage's tower. Her hair was soaked, streaming water down onto the rug while the clerk at the entrance desk stared at her in mild surprise. It was moments like this when she was glad she kept her hair short. Imagine how much more water it could have held if it was as long as it had been before her first chuunin exams!

Shizune came down the stairs, took one look at Sakura and diverted her steps toward a cabinet. She handed Sakura a towel. "I don't think we can handle much more of this spring weather."

Sakura had a flash of memory: Jiraiya telling Naruto that she had a personality like spring weather. Only now, years later, did she realize what he had meant.

Hmpf. Her fists clenched at her sides.

Then abruptly fell limp. It was hard to be angry with the dead. She smiled at Shizune. "Really? I think it's the best season of all." She paused, taking in Shizune's haggard face, the lines beneath her eyes that told of lack of sleep.

Something was up. Sakura remembered why she was here. "The Hokage wants to see me?"

Shizune nodded and turned without a word to lead the way.

Sakura frowned as she followed, wondering what the Hokage had to tell her. Might it be something to do with Konan, or with Juugo? She and Tsunade had been working with them for close on two years now, but she had seen no improvement in Konan, and they were still clueless as to how to find a cure for Juugo. Both suffered an affliction of the mind, and that sort of illness did not lie within the Konoha medics' area of expertise.

Shizune opened the door to her senpai's office and stepped aside to let Sakura enter first.

Her step faltered when she saw who was already waiting in the room. Sai, his face expressionless as usual, and the little cryptologist with the crazy glasses – Sakura searched her memory. Shiho.

A mission, then. She focused her attention on the Hokage.

Tsunade scowled at her. "Late. Again. Since when did you inherit your sensei's habits?"

Sakura raised her chin a little. "Someone has to do it." In truth, she hadn't even realized she was late. On her way over, she'd come across a farmer whose cart had gotten stuck in the mud, and had stopped to help him. But, unlike her late sensei, she was not in the habit of making excuses – at least, not anymore.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed, and Sakura saw the right corner of her mouth turn upward a millimeter or two. She knew what Tsunade must be thinking of asking her, and felt a blush paint her cheeks.

The answer to the question was yes. She did read Icha Icha paradise. There was one hidden beneath her pillow at this very moment. But she was not about to admit that to anyone, not even her teacher.

But Tsunade did not ask. In the blink of an eye, her smile was gone, leaving Sakura to wonder whether it had just been her imagination.

"Sakura. Sai. Shiho." Tsunade looked at each of them in turn. She had a quill in one hand, and was twirling it between her fingers. "There is no way to break this to you easily, so I am just going to say it. The three of you are getting married."

She was met with silence. Sakura stared back blankly, feeling her eyes grow wider, unable to work out what the Hokage was saying because her brain refused to contemplate the possibilities.

Sai was the first to recover, matter-of-fact as always. "I don't understand. I thought a marriage involved only two people."

------------------------------------

Going by the weather, Gaara wouldn't have been able to name the season. By day, Suna was stifling all year long, and by night the barren landscape seemed unable to hold onto any warmth, just as it was unable to hold onto water.

He turned his chair from the window to face his siblings, seated on the opposite side of his desk. They did not look happy to be there. He studied the flat line of his sister's mouth, his brother's white knuckles as he grasped the arms of his chair.

He realized they had been waiting for some time while he had sorted out his thoughts.

"Kankuro. Temari." Gaara leaned his elbows on the desk, lacing his fingers together. "The council of elders and I have made a pact with Konoha that involves the two of you."

It was interesting to watch their reactions. Temari immediately dropped her gaze, looking embarrassed, and Kankuro's eyes grew wide beneath his bunraku hood, as though his vision had closed in on some horror only he could see.

Baki cleared his throat from the corner. "Kazekage-sama. You are killing them with the wait."

Gaara blinked. His mouth opened – and then, for some reason, he just couldn't say it.

Kankuro leaned forward and slammed his fists on the table. "Damn it, Gaara! What have you done?"

The Kazekage didn't even blink. Such a show of brash impatience was typical of his older brother.

It was Temari's behavior that disturbed him more – she reached for Kankuro's arm, her hand searching as if lost in the dark. "Are we going to have to move?"

Gaara looked at her with interest. It sounded like she had an inkling of what was happening. How had she guessed?

Then the impact of her words hit him. _Were they going to have to move?_ The idea had not even occurred to him, though it should have. He felt his mouth gape open while his siblings continued to watch him with increasing distress.

Baki spoke up, his voice raspy as sand. "The council has arranged for you to marry two shinobi of Hidden Leaf Village."

Temari and Kankuro had looked to Baki when he spoke, but it was to Gaara that their eyes, wide as frightened children's, turned to for the truth. He had not seen them look so scared since the chuunin exams in Konoha. It made him uneasy, and more than a little ashamed.

He avoided looking at them and cleared his throat. "Our council was meeting with that of Konoha about the potential for an alliance of marriage when the Hyuuga elders, who sit on both the village council and the Hyuuga council, announced their interest in allying their family with ours. Both sides thought it would be beneficial, so I approved the negotiations."

Silence.

He risked a glance up at Temari. "It will be beneficial, won't it?"

Kakuro cursed, but Temari gave him a wan smile. "For Suna, yes, probably. But for us…"

"Gaara, what were you thinking?"

The Kazekage looked at his brother.

"We shouldn't have to do this! It's for clans, for traditionalists like the Hyuugas. Not for us. If our father were alive, he would have forced us to marry for his benefit. But he's gone. We're supposed to be free to make our own choices!"

Gaara looked down at his desk, feeling the unease that had settled into his stomach like a heavy stone turn to a vague feeling of horror. "I don't understand," he said. "Won't we all have to marry, eventually?" He looked to Temari. "You guessed what I was going to say. Doesn't the idea of having a husband and starting a family please you? Isn't that what every woman wants?"

This time it was Temari who slammed her fists on his desk. "I'm a kunoichi, not some brood mare! I don't care if you're the Kazekage or my little brother. I won't be treated that way."

Gaara thought for a moment that he might have to raise his sand shield to defend himself, but Kankuro stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"He doesn't understand."

Temari glanced at him. "What?"

"He doesn't understand," Kankuro repeated, then gave Gaara a long look. It took him a moment to realize that his brother wasn't focusing on his eyes, but rather on his forehead, where the symbol "Ai" was painted.

Was Kankuro saying he didn't understand love? That was hardly a big surprise. Gaara frowned. "What are you tryng to say?"

"Gaara." The look Kankuro gave him held a little… pity. "Do you remember, when you fought Naruto, how he changed the way you saw everything?"

Gaara nodded patiently.

"Well… when people get married, they don't want just anyone. You want someone you can get along with, sure, but you want someone who is special to you, someone who…" He looked to his Temari, who only raised her eyes incredulously.

"Someone who changed you?" asked Gaara.

"No, not necessarily. Someone who… I don't know, who changed your life, who turned your world upside down." Kankuro scratched his chin, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. "I can't believe I'm trying to explain this to you."

Gaara tried to digest his brother's words. To marry someone like Naruto… only female. The thought was intriguing, but he shoved it away before it could become too dangerous. This was not about him, anyway.

"What about our parents," he asked doubtfully. "If our mother was so important to our father, why did he sacrifice her life?"

Kankuro threw him a disgusted look at the mention of their parents, but he looked to Temari to answer. She knew the most about their parents' relationship, simply by virtue of being born first.

"That's what Kankuro is trying to tell you," she said. "Our parents' marriage was not a happy one. They were not right for each other. That's why…" Her voice trembled, and she seemed unable to continue.

"Why she died," Gaara completed. Even after all these years, he still blamed her death on himself, but he had become good at pretending otherwise in public. He looked back up at his siblings. "So, you are telling me that you do not believe the Hyuugas are right for you?"

Kankuro and Temari shared a look. "Didn't we watch their fight in the chuunin exams?" asked Kankuro. "Wasn't that the one where the boy was trying to kill his kinswoman?"

They turned their eyes to Gaara. He could tell from their expressions that Kankuro had just made a good point. Gaara only shrugged. What was he supposed to say? He had threatened his own siblings' lives many a time, but now, even the nightmares where he killed them were gone. Maybe Hyuuga Neji had experienced a change of heart. Maybe he'd realized that what he'd done was wrong.

"You don't really know them," he said.

"No," Temari said slowly. "We don't. That's the problem."

It was then that the enormity of his mistake hit him. "It was a bad idea, wasn't it?"

Baki remained where he was, the half of his face that was visible showing no expression. Temari and Kankuro seemed torn between telling him the truth and pretending that it was going to be fine.

Unable to bear the sight anymore, he buried his head in his hands. This was exactly the sort of thing he had been trying to avoid since the day he'd been named Kazekage. A mistake that he could not fix. He had never felt so ineffectual in his life, not even when he'd been captured by the Akatsuki. At least then he had rested assured that he had done the right thing. Knowing they wanted him and him alone, he had warned no one and gone to fight his own battle. And then, expending the last of his power to save the village.

That was an act he could be proud of.

But this… why was it that something so simple had slipped him up?

"Perhaps," he began, "we could…"

"No." Baki's voice came sharply from the corner. "Konoha is notifying the Hyuuga clan even as we speak. The councils were very satisfied with the negotiations. Honor is at stake, and, more importantly, money. We cannot back out at this point."

Gaara looked helplessly at his siblings.

"Well…" Kankuro's eyes held no hope at all. "I suppose we could try to–"

The door burst open before he could finish. Matsuri hurried to the Kazekage's desk, panting for breath. She dropped in a low, painful-looking bow. "Gaara-sama! A message from the village council!"

Gaara took the folded paper.

---------------------------

"That's correct, Sai," Tsunade said smoothly without so much as batting an eyelash. "Each of you is going to be married to a different person, and none of them are in this room."

Sakura, still unable to speak, thought briefly about pinching herself. This had to be a bad dream. But the cold water running down her back, the deep purple of the clouds outside and the sound of the rain on the roof were much too real.

Someone screamed. Sakura turned in surprise to see Shiho with her hand covering her mouth, blushing.

"You can't – I mean, you don't really mean this, do you?" The cryptologist gasped. "This is all some kind of joke, isn't it? I mean, I have a career to think about, my job doesn't allow time for that sort of thing –"

"That's right." Sakura interrupted. She knew the Hokage well enough to know when se was dead serious. "We are kunoichi of Hidden Leaf Village. Our work is important. We are not some merchant's daughters to be sold for the sake of an alliance." She paused, taking a deep breath. "That is what this is about, isn't it?"

"Since I'm not a kunoichi," Sai said thoughtfully, "I guess I cannot decline."

Sakura threw him a shut-up-or-die glare, but Sai, as always, was hopelessly oblivious.

Tsunade rested her head in one hand, frowning up at Sakura. "Actually, you're wrong. This has to do with Sasuke's team. The council refuses to let them become citizens of Konoha unless their loyalty is assured – through marriage."

But what Sakura heard was:

Sasuke.

Marriage.

And just like that, her heart brimmed over with hope.

Once again she was standing on the dark street, her heart open as wide as it would go, everything revealed, watching him walk away from her.

Everything she had said and done, everything she had learned, all that she had accomplished – curing Kankuro, helping Chiyo fight Sasori, fighting beside Naruto, rebuilding Konoha – had been superfluous. She'd told Sasuke that night, that when he left, she would be as good as alone.

Even at that young age, she had known herself well enough to be right. These past six years, in her heart, she had still been on that street waiting for him to turn around.

"And how would that assure their loyalty?" she heard Shiho asking. She also heard the implications beneath the cryptologist's words – that Sasuke's team was incapable of loyalty.

Sakura could have slapped her. The girl did not know Sasuke. She did not understand the circumstances – how Konoha had betrayed the Uchiha clan, how two of Sasuke's comrades had been Orochimaru's guinea pigs for years.

Sakura had to admit she was right about Karin though.

She spoke before Tsunade could answer. "They will be loyal to Konoha if their children are born here. That's what the council is thinking, isn't it?"

Tsunade nodded. "I know it is not what you want." Her eyes met Sakura's.

Sakura only realized that she had been smiling when the smile began to falter. Tsunade's gaze was penetrating. It made her want to back away, or, better yet, turn and run from the room.

No. Tsunade didn't know her feelings, that was all.

But she did. Tsunade knew her better than anyone else. Why was she saying this was not what Sakura wanted?

No.

"Sakura, the council selected you as the best candidate to marry Juugo."

Though her ears were ringing, there was no mistaking the Hokage's words. Just as easily as her heart had lifted up, it sank down again.

Not Sasuke.

She was still standing on the street, waiting alone.

Somewhere, Tsunade had continued down the line. "Sai, you were selected to marry Karin, obviously."

"Juugo?" Sakura squeaked. The last time she had seen him, he had been screaming at the top of his lungs for no particular reason. Her voice went up one pitch higher. "_Juugo_?"

"And Shiho."

Sakura's fists clenched, and she felt her chakra moving downward through her arms, even as a queasy feeling welled up in her stomach. This was wrong, all wrong.

"… Suigetsu." She heard Tsunade finish.

Oh.

Sakura's shoulders slumped. Her violent energy, having found no outlet, settled back down to wait for a better cause.

She felt like she was going crazy. She wondered if this was how Juugo felt.

Her memories of the man came to her unbidden. The first time she met him, after Sasuke's return, she'd thought him kind. He had helped her move prisoners into the tent hospital, and even in the midst of all the chaos, she had been struck by the contrast of his strength and his gentle disposition.

Not a week had passed before she found out what he truly was. A monster, the origin of Sasuke's cursed seal. He was helping a group of builders one day when his madness took control of him. Sakura had been called up, too late. Luckily, Sasuke had gotten there first, baiting him and leading him away to a secluded area so that no civilians would be killed. They fought until Sasuke landed a hit hard enough to knock Juugo unconscious, and then the monster had reverted back to his true form.

But not before Sakura had seen him. His skin darkened, his flesh changing shape, sinews rippling beneath the skin like snakes. The dark shapes that flurried across the left side of his face, mouth wide with maniacal laughter.

A completely different person.

"The decision is final. It doesn't matter whether we like it or not." Tsunade gave them a long look, as if to make certain they understood she was including herself. "As I told Yamato, you must think of this as a mission."

"Yamato?" Sakura was confused. But then the question that really mattered burst to the forefront of her mind. "But who is Sasuke going to marry?"

She did not expect the hard glare that Tsunade sent her way. "That, Sakura, is none of your concern."

The sudden harshness from her senpai shocked Sakura at first. Then it stung. She lowered her head in embarrassment. "No." Tsunade was cruel in her own way, but not in this. This was just her way of trying to tell Sakura it was hopeless. "I don't suppose it is."

Tsunade made no reply. Sakura gritted her teeth, trying to staunch the well of tears that had sprung up inside of her. In the sudden quiet inside the Hokage's office, the sounds of rain and thunder filled the room.

Sakura wanted so badly to hold onto her dignity like a strong kunoichi. She did not want to relive the first day of Sasuke's absence, when she could do nothing but weep in abject grief. _See, Jiraiya_? She thought to herself. _Not so much like spring weather, huh_? For if it were true, she would be weeping as heavily as the sky.

It was only then that she noticed the traitorous moisture seeping out the corners of her eyes and trickling down her face.

------------------------

Gaara could not take his eyes from the letter in his hands.

He tried to read it through one more time, but now even the letters had began to stop making sense. He could not remember what he had read. A bunch of nonsensical words, it seemed like, and yet at the heart of it all there was one solid chunk of information.

He was getting married.

"Kazekage? May I?" Baki slipped the letter out of his limp fingers and held it close to the window to read.

Gaara's eyes found Kankuro's by chance. He saw reflected in his brother's face exactly what he himself was feeling.

Dumb shock.

"Well." Baki put the letter facedown on the desk, but it was not there a whole second before Temari snatched it up. "I have to admit that I was expecting this."

"What is it?" Kankuro asked, looking from Baki to Gaara.

Gaara had not expected himself to speak, so he was surprised to hear his own voice. "We're to leave for Konoha tomorrow. The council wants us to meet up with a party from Iwagakure there." He paused, drawing in a breath that would not seem to come. "All three of us are to be married, it seems."


	3. Wedding 1: In the Rain

**AN**: For SasuHina fans, don't worry, they will be back in the next chapter, as well as Team 10 and the rest of Team 8. Thank you to all of my reviewers so far! 3

* * *

Tenzou slid the door of his dressing room shut behind him and set out for the shrine, a black haori hanging stiffly over his shoulders, his footsteps echoing in the cavernous hallway.

He had lived in the Senju family compound for twenty years – ever since he had become a chuunin, and the council had revealed his originis to him – but he'd never ceased to walk its floors with trepidation. The largest of all the Konoha clan compounds, it had been raised by the first Hokage himself, using his mokuton jutsu. It was a work of art, more of a weaving than a structure, comprised of strands of wood rather than thread. He was still uncertain how many rooms there were, but each had a unique shape. Tenzou knew the theory behind the building, of course. He could raise his four-pillar house, but the like of the Senju compound was quite beyond his ability.

For those twenty years, he had lived there alone. Among the echoing corridors, the dark, unused dining halls and solars, sitting and drawing rooms, bathrooms, receiving rooms, and countless other rooms he had yet to discover, he was the only thing that lived and breathed.. He made use of only six rooms, but his meager possessions came nowhere near filling them.

To call it lonely would be an understatement.

He could not deny that the council was halfway right: he needed a family. But their reasons were not his.

When Tsunade had called him to her office to inform him of the council's decision, the first question he had asked had been "Why?"

He was not accustomed to asking that kind of question. He was ANBU, after all. It was his job to follow orders without hesitation, asking no questions, expecting no explanation. But this was not his typical ANBU mission.

Tsunade had eyed him levelly. "Why do you think? Because of your DNA. You carry the genes of the first Hokage, making you the last member of the Senju clan. Your powers are exceptional. The council insists that you pass them on."

"We do not even know if they _can_ be passed on," had been his protest.

"Oh, believe me," Tsunade said. "They can. Orochimaru's research was illegal, but after we seized his laboratories, the council could not let all that knowledge go to waste." She gave him a dark look. "Some would prefer to inherit the legacy of evil rather than commit the crimes themselves. That way they do not have to claim responsibility." Her face softened. "But we did find out a lot about you."

She had explained to him that, because his genes had been receptive to the First's DNA, the chance of any of his offspring inheriting it was over fifty. So they had been testing his DNA without his knowing. Ah well. He was used to it by now – the council was always revealing things to him that he hadn't known about himself. What he wished they could tell him was who his true parents had been, though he had a good idea. Farmers, most likely, living out close on the edge of wilderness, where there were not enough people to group together and go after a kidnapper, and not enough funds to pay for a ninja. He wondered if they were even still alive.

He was left with only one question. "But why _her_?"

That was when Tsunade started to reorganize the stacks of papers on her desk. "The council made the same demands of her that they made of Sasuke's team. They want a powerful shinobi, someone who can deal with her if she causes trouble." Tsunade sighed. "Not that she will, for she lacks the mental capacity. Pain's death destroyed her." Tsunade trailed off, and Tenzou had the distinct impression that she was stalling.

"Why else?"

Tsunade stacked the last of her papers together more forcefully that was necessary and glared up at him. "You ask too many questions!" She ground her teeth, then looked furtively through the windows. "But I guess I may as well tell you. It's not as though you wouldn't figure it out for yourself. The council is interested in her ninjutsu. They wonder what will happen if her skills are combined with yours–"

"I see," Tenzou interrupted. "So in the end, I am what I have always been." He gave a mirthless bark of laughter. "An experiment."

Now, surrounded by the vastness of his home, he wished that he had not left himself so vulnerable. If he had married long ago, he could have made the decision himself. But he'd had no time for romance in his life. Very few women every caught his eye; he was that absorbed in his work. The last was Shizune. He'd planned to ask her out on a date when he got back from the mission tracking Kabuto, but she had died while he was gone, her soul extracted by one of Pein's bodies during the Akatsuki's invasion of Konoha.

Now he must abide by the council's choice. Konan.

He knew nothing of her, save that she had been the partner of Akatsuki's leader, that she used an origami jutsu, and that she seemed to be lacking an integral part of what made a person sane. She was not raving mad, not like Juugo, when his other side took over. It was harder to say what was wrong with her. She always seemed to move like a sleepwalker, unaware of anything going on around her.

So the council expected him to father a new Senju clan on a madwoman. He was sure that it was possible, with or without her consent – he doubted she would even be aware what was happening.

But he was not so much as laying a finger on her. The council would just have to be disappointed.

---------------------------------

Konan held out her arms while the priestess-in-training slipped a white kimono over her shoulders. They were in a room she did not recognize, an earthy-smelling room in what she could tell must be a great house. The girl told her to lower her arms while she tied her obi, and Konan did so, studying her fingernails, cut neatly and evenly. Lately, it was so hard to focus, but she had always taken comfort in neatness and order, and her habits had stuck with her.

She looked up into the mirror, and was stunned to find herself draped in white, even though she had seen the kimono. Konan did not remember ever wearing white. For so long, she had traveled with Nagato, wearing the black-and-red Akatsuki cloak. In white, she looked… younger, her skin rosier. She could barely even recognize herself.

"There," the girl said, having finished tying the obi. "All done. Now turn around! You look so beautiful."

Konan paid little attention to the girl's compliments. It was her job to say such things. She turned dutifully, arms hanging limp against her sides. The girl frowned a little, but Konan ignored her as she faced the mirror again.

"You seem sad for a bride at her wedding." She detected some shyness in the girl's voice now.

Bride. Wedding.

Oh yes.

That was why she was here.

In the mirror, Konan saw her own eyes widen momentarily. Was she dreaming, or was it finally going to happen? Yahiko walking by her side, their fingers entwined. The sky a cloudless blue, no hint of rain, in a land owned by no country, an endless sea of golden wheat. That was the way she had always planned it the day she had realized she was in love with him.

The priest they met at the altar turned out to be the same one from the country shrine near her childhood home, brought back to life again. But when she grew closer, she saw that something was wrong with his eyes. Ring after ring after ring. Nagato's eyes. When she remembered, it all made sense. Of course they were his eyes. The priest was dead, but Nagato must have brought him back.

He was not a god for nothing, after all.

True, it was not really the priest who stood there. It looked like him on the outside, but inside, he was just Nagato. But that did not trouble her. The priest had died so long ago that she felt no pang of loss, and the sight of his face gladdened her. Nagato was hiding beneath his skin, but Nagato was just Nagato, and she was used to having him look at her out of other people's faces.

She thought she glimpsed him, his real body, standing in the shadows, but when she looked, there was nothing there. When she turned to see her wedding guests, she noticed they all had ringed eyes as well.

But it did not matter. Not until she turned to face Yahiko, and saw that his eyes, too, were filled with rings.

Of course they were. Yahiko was dead; how could she have forgotten? After his death, she began to dream that the whole world had died, and Nagato had taken their bodies. She was surrounded by a sea of people, and yet she was alone, for everyone that she knew, everyone that she was close to was Nagato.

But he had taken _his _body first. When she thought she would die from the pain of never seeing his face again, she opened her eyes, and he was standing above her. Not the same, of course. His eyes were different, and so were the studs that pierced his body all over, Nagato's chakra receptors. Yet the heat that radiated from him was his own. Nagato had always been so cold to the touch. After Yahiko had joined them, it was always him that she wanted to curl up beside to sleep.

Nagato had brought Yahiko back to her. Her beautiful Yahiko. She could never repay that debt. She could never doubt that Nagato was a god.

But neither had she dreamed of the wedding again. As she grew older, she had forgotten her childish desire, pushing it to the back of her mind because there were some truths she did not want to face. Like how she could not be with Yahiko in the way she wanted, because it was Nagato that lived beneath his skin.

"Konan-san?" The young priestess was staring at her with huge, fearful eyes. "Are you sick?"

Konan looked unseeing around the room. Yahiko and Nagato were not there with her. They were gone beyond the point where she could reach them. Yet here she was, dressed in white, preparing for her wedding day.

She tried to remember whom she was marrying, but her mind drew a blank.

"Konan-san?" The girl backed up a step.

Then the door popped open, and an elder priestess walked in. Her face was lined so deep Konan could hardly see her eyes, and her fading pink hair was pulled back into a braid. The girl gave her a pleading look, but the priestess ignored her. "Konan-san," she said, "I bring a gift to you from your husband."

Konan looked down into her open palm with interest. At first she could not decide what it was, but the shape could not be considered anything but a ring. As she accepted it from the priestess, taking it into her own hands, she could feel the smoothness. It was wood, intricately carved, a lace of flowers.

"It is the ring of the First Hokage's mother," the priestess said, reaching to slip it onto Konan's finger.

Konan nodded, knowing not what to say. She curved her fingers, feeling the ring hard against her palm, and for some reason she thought of Nagato's chakra receptors, how they had felt in her flesh. This was different, a more gentle claim of ownership.

The priestess smiled at her, deepening the wrinkles in her face and hiding her eyes even further. It occurred to Konan that the woman must think that she was crazy, but did not know what to do about it, and was not sure she would want to do it even if she knew how.

"I'll see you at the altar," the priestess said before turning back to the door.

The girl resumed fussing over her. She turned to allow her to brush her hair. As she stared into the mirror, she realized that something was missing.

"Do – do you have any paper?" Her voice was so hoarse with disuse that it was difficult to get the words out.

The girl nodded and hurried to fetch some, and when she returned with it, Konan was pleased to see that the color was white, to match her kimono. Her fingers worked deftly, folding a paper camellia, perfection in miniature. She pinned it in her hair while the young priestess looked on with puzzlement. Once it was secure, Konan examined it with an isolated feeling of satisfaction.

It was yet another manifestation of her need for order. Every morning, she folded her flower and pinned it in her hair. She had started while they trained with Jiraiya, and she had taken comfort in it during the years that had passed.

When the world had gone crazy, it was good to know there was at least one thing still going as planned.

-----------------------------------

Tenzou slid open the last door and faced the rain.

The storm of the afternoon had clamed to a heavy downpour, thunderless and unchanging. It was not yet dusk, nor was it still late afternoon; the light was pale and silvery, seeming to come from nowhere. The mountains were half-hidden in mist, the peaks, still white with snow, floating unattached.

The path to the Senju family shrine was covered, and the rain poured off in sheets on either side. As he crossed the bridge, he saw that the pond, dark and murky from neglect, was overflowing, and he heard frogs chorusing throughout the compound. There was more than a hint of wildness to the Senju family home, the gardens left untended for years, young trees growing up everywhere beneath the giants, which had been put there by the First Hokage and never pruned or otherwise altered. Most of the time he did not notice, but tonight, in the rain, it overwhelmed him.

He walked slowly, unconsciously putting off the inevitable. When the shrine rose up before him out of the mist, he halted.

This was it.

There was a clear space above his head for several feet before the roof of the shrine began, and the water was pouring off in streams. He could make out two figures waiting there in the shadows: he saw the shape of the Hokage's hat and the headpiece worn by the priest.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped out into the rain.

The haori repelled the water, but his hair and the rest of his clothing drank it in, so that by the time he made it across, he looked as though he'd just emerged from the pond. The Hokage and the priest, both quite dry, looked at him as he came to meet them.

"Yamato," Tsunade said, nodding. It was all she said. There was nothing else that needed to be discussed here.

Tenzou turned to the washing basin, suddenly wishing that the Hokage did not have to be in attendance. He was capable of fulfilling his duty to Konoha without her watching over him like an academy teacher.

The priest held out a towel for him to dry his hands and face. When he was cleansed, Tenzou moved further into the shrine. The altar was set, everything prepared. His instincts took over, searching for hidden exits, as though this were just another ANBU mission.

He knew when she arrived, for there was a sudden change in the sound of the rain.

In the hours since he had signed the document sealing his fate, he would not have imagined that when the moment came, he would even glance her way. This was not a typical marriage, and should not be played out the way one ought. To do so would be a very transparent farce, and Tenzou did not want to live that way. So why was it that his eyes sought her out, the way a lost traveler looks to the brightest star?

He watched as Konan held out her hands for the shrine priestess to pour water over, then accepted the cup to wash her mouth. After a moment, he realized that he was checking for any signs of sanity. He sighed and looked away. He could not let himself grow so desperate. If he did, then he would begin to blame her, and this was no more her fault than it was his own.

He did not look at her again until the priest and priestess led them to sit, and then they were facing each other, and it would be rude to look away.

Whatever else could he could say of Konan of the Akatsuki, he had always found her to be beautiful. Her eyes were her most noticeable feature, heavy-lidded and sad. In the white kimono, she looked young and as fresh as new spring. Her figure was light, subtly curved but for the generous swell of her breasts. Whoever had dressed her had left off the traditional headdress, so that her gentian-blue hair was left bare and rain-drenched. The flower she wore pinned in it was dripping water onto her right arm.

He searched her eyes for any sign of emotion, even awareness, but she returned his gaze with a serene but empty expression. He wondered what she thought of him. He wondered if she even did.

The priest began to beat the drum and sing prayers, entreating a blessing upon their union. It was a relief to break eye contact with his bride to watch the proceedings, but all too soon it was over, and the priest and priestess led them to stand facing each other before the altar for the ritual of threes.

Tenzou suddenly found it hard to focus. The rain had sunk into his clothes, and now he felt the dampness against his skin. He felt himself shivering as he bowed and accepted the first cup. He lost count of the times the priest pretended to pour, but knew when it was his time to drink when the priest stood back, waiting. Tezou lifted the cup to his lips and pretended to sip twice, then drank, the sake like fire pooling into his stomach. He watched with narrowed eyes as the priest turned to Konan. She waited for the priest to finish and then she, too, faked two sips before drinking.

He was surprised that she had been able to keep up. That meant she was aware, after all. His brow creased in confusion.

The priest brought out a larger cup and repeated the ritual, then finally moved on to the largest. Konan never made a mistake, though on the last cup, Tenzou got a little bit of liquid in his mouth on the first sip before he remembered he was only supposed to fake it. He eyed the priest, wondering if he had noticed, but it was impossible to tell what the man was thinking beneath his smile.

It didn't really matter. He'd already had his bad luck anyway.

The priest motioned for them to stand before the altar, entreating the gods while the priestess joined their hands.

Tenzou didn't understand why his mind became so minutely focused on the way her hand felt against his. Her palm was cold and still clammy from the rinsing, her fingers long and fine-boned, her grip quite limp, but still firmer than he would have expected. He watched her sidelong while the priest continued the prayers, but he saw no change in her face.

Then it was time to say their vows. Tenzou read from the scroll on the altar, his voice a flat monotone. Later, he could not remember a word he said. When Konan's turn came, he watched her half-lidded eyes move as she read the scroll. Her voice was weak, almost raspy, and she used no intonation.

Until she reached the words, _live a peaceful life_.

Her hand jerked against Tenzou's, and she fell silent.

He could not fathom what was going on in her mind. Her grip was steely now, and he could feel something hard pressed between their fingers. Looking down, he saw that it was a ring.

Not just any ring - the ring of the First's mother. His eyes widened. Whose idea had it been to give _that _to her? He glanced at the priest, then the priestess, speculating.

Konan cleared her throat, the first time he'd ever heard her make such a human sound. IT\t softened his disposition toward her, and he gave her hand a gentle squeeze and fixed her with a kind look. She did not seem to notice, but she began to read again.

And when she was done, the priest declared them married.

There were more prayers to be said, sakaki branches to be offered on the altar, but it was all superfluous. The thing was done. Tenzou felt at once relieved and edgy. It was over, but he did not know what was to come after.

The priest poured the last of the sake into their cups, turning to pour for the priestess and the Hokage as well this time. After one last toast, they were free to go.

If this had been any other wedding, where the bride and groom were willing participants, there would have been laughter and cheers, and they would have stopped to pose for pictures. Tonight, there was just the steady sound of the rain in the fading twilight.

Tenzou started back for the compound, Konan's hand still in his, like something he'd forgotten to set down. The Hokage moved to intercept his path.

"Yamato," she said. She glanced back at Konan, then seemed to decide she wasn't listening. "You have the rest of the month off."

"Why?" he asked, dismayed. He wanted to return to work as soon as possible.

"For your honeymoon," Tsunade answered sternly. "For better or worse, you are married, and you must make the most of it. Take the time to get to know your wife. Take her to do something that she likes."

Yamato gave her a weary look. "How should I know what that is?"

For the first time, Tsunade looked to be caught off guard. "Umm…" She glanced at Konan, then her eyes hardened once again. "Flowers. She likes flowers. Take her to see some."

"Hai." Yamato gave her a sharp nod and walked around her, Konan trailing behind him.

He stepped back out into the rain and heard a splashing sound and a small cry of surprise from behind him. He turned and saw Konan's distressed look, and followed the direction of her eyes.

The flower had fallen from her hair and was lying on the path, an unrecognizable wad of wet paper. He looked back at her face. She continued to stare down at it, looking both forlorn and distant, as though she'd just dropped her favorite possession into the ocean and was watching its descent, helpless to do anything about it.

Tenzou knelt down to retrieve the flower, but it came apart between his fingers. "It's ruined. I'm sorry."

Konan made no reply.

"Ah." Cupping his hands, he scooped up the flower, along with some mud. "There, I've got it."

His eyes met hers, and for the first time, he saw that she was looking at him, _really _looking at him. And, just for a moment, he thought he could detect a hint of some emotion, though he was not sure what kind.

So it seemed there was a person in there after all.

He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling awkward. Until that moment, he realized, standing beside her had been just like standing alone. "I'll bring it. Come on, step out of the rain."

He crossed the gap between the shrine and the sheltered walkway, glancing back over his shoulder to make certain she followed. He was pleased to see that she did.

When they reached the great doors to his house, he remembered all of the things he had forgotten to see to. Like where she was going to sleep, where she could keep her things, what she was going to eat… He kept no household staff, so there was no one else to take care of the job.

Inside the door, he removed his sandals and waited while she did the same. He led her upstairs, babbling apologies she did not heed, his voice echoing down the halls until the individual syllables were indistinguishable. Glancing back, he saw that Konan's head was turning as she took in the sights, looking into every room they passed.

"What kind of room would you like?" he asked her hopefully. "None of them are painted, of course, but they come in different styles." He waited for an answer, but she did not seem to have heard him.

As he neared his own quarters, he realized with a growing sense of panic that he did not have the right things to set up a room for her. No extra bed, no furniture. Not even an extra toothbrush. Had she come with no belongings of her own? He found it hard to believe that such a detail would be overlooked.

When he reached his room, however, he found that he was the only one who'd overlooked the details after all. Two blue duffel bags that had not been there that morning were on his bed. He felt ashamed. It was not like him to be so negligent, but he supposed he had good reason.

Tenzou's bedroom was not the largest one in the house, but in his eyes at least, it was the best one. Nearest to the door were his bed and furniture – a chair and lamp, a chest of drawers where he kept his casual clothes for his days off. Beyond that, you took a step down, and the rest of the room was an observation area, set among the tops of the Senju compound's tallest trees.

He turned on the lamp beside the bed and deposited the remains of the paper flower there, wiping his hands on his pants. Too late, he remembered that they could not be washed, but then, when would he ever need to wear them again?

Konan's gaze did not linger on her flower. Instead, she looked at him.

"You can sleep in my room tonight," he told her slowly. He glanced in the direction of her luggage. "I'd unpack for you, but I… I think you'd rather do it yourself."

That was when he knew for certain she could hear him. Stepping up to the bed, she picked up her bags… and placed them against the wall, out of the way. She backed up to sink down onto his bed, her bare feet pale against the ebony floor.

She began to untie the back of her obi.

Tenzou swallowed and turned for the door.

"Wait!" she called softly.

He turned his head slowly to look at her over his shoulder, his hand still resting on the sliding door. Her obi was untied, her kimono gaping loosely over her chest, but not revealing it. "Do you need something else?" He tired to make his voice sound even.

"I thought…" she bowed her head, hands clasped between her knees. "It's our wedding night, after all."

Tenzou hovered on the threshold. Everything about this situation was screaming for him to run in the opposite direction. However calm she was, she was not wholly sane. She might not know her own mind; she might be confused. And then, she had been a member of the Akatsuki and an enemy of Konoha. She could be trying to lure him in, in order to kill him.

But sitting there on his bed, she looked like a wilted flower. He did not understand why. He felt himself sliding the door shut, felt his footsteps leading him to the bed to sit down beside her.

Hesitantly, he touched her hand. "What is it that you want?"

She raised her eyes to meet his. There was something sensual, maybe even vaguely animal, in the heavy-lidded look she gave him right before she kissed him.

And he was lost from then on. Tenzou prided himself on his restraint and caution in all areas of his life. He wasn't one to take a woman home from the bar, nor to engage in a casual relationship, at least not without a thorough background check first.

But even he had a breaking point. Tonight, his life had changed. Konan was his whether he wanted her or not, and in a sudden rush of craziness, he decided he wanted to see if it was worth it. Pulling her kimono from her shoulders, he gently directed her to the center of the bed. Her eyes were glazed, but she was looking right at him as he leaned over her, pressing her back against the mattress, loosening the strings in the front of her kimono.

-------------------------------

It was a mistake, of course.

The hell only broke loose much, much later, when he was sleeping a heavy, dreamless sleep. The rain was still going, soundless against the shingles, but it was still spattering on the ground outside.

There was a bloodcurdling scream right beside him. He started awake into the darkness, reaching for the kunai on the table beside him.

Her body collided with his, and he fumbled, knocking the kunai off the table. His foot found something wet, and he slipped backwards, landing on the floor with a thud.

He cursed, holding a hand to his backside. "What are you doing?"

The bluish outline of her head was visible above him. He could hear her panting heavily, like a frightened animal.

"You're not Yahiko." Her voice was low, agonized. "You're not Yahiko! Who the hell are you?"

Tenzou didn't even know what to say. He stumbled to his feet, looking for his clothes while she panted in the background. His gaze fell across a wad of wet paper squashed on the floor – Konan's flower. That was what he'd slipped on.

Hell, what had he been thinking? For a moment there, he had been able to pretend that this would turn out all right. He'd managed to delude himself; she had been looking right at him, but it seemed that she had not really seen him after all.

Konan began to weep, curling in on herself right there in the middle of his bed like a wounded dog. The sounds she made were heart wrenching. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but he did not know what he could do when he had been the one to cause the pain. All he could think of was to get out as soon as possible.

He found a robe and hastily threw it on. "It's all right, I'm going now." He slipped outside.

Her sobs continued, unchanging, on the other side of the sliding door.

It was only when he had reached his office, the room among his quarters that was farthest from the bedroom, that he recalled what she had said. Yahiko. Who was that?

And then he remembered. Tsunade had told him two years ago, after Pein had been defeated. She'd told him of the three orphans she and the other Sannin had come across – Konan, the cheerful blue-haired girl who loved origami, sulky Nagato, who had later awakened the Rin'negan, and Yahiko, the leader of the three, the loud and brave one.

It had been Yahiko's body that led the invasion of Konoha – Yahiko's body, but Nagato's mind.

He wondered if the madness was ever going to end.


	4. Arrangements: The Final Batch

**AN**: Thanks so much to my reviewers! This is the final chapter revealing the arranged marriages, so the real story starts after this.

I would greatly appreciate it, if you have read chapter three, if you would vote in the poll I have on my profile about the Konan/Yamato pairing.

**Another note: **This story assumes that Naruto forgets Hinata's confession after he goes kyuubi. This does not appear to happen in the manga. Also, for the purposes of this story, Naruto is already married to a kunoichi he brought back from the former whirlpool village, but neither of them will be in the story much.

--------------------------

Hiashi was gone to speak with the council about Hanabi's engagement, and Hinata had a skull-crushing headache.

She had always assumed that if she took up drinking, it would render her uninhibited and brave, like drunks were supposed to be. Instead, the potency of the awamori had made her sleepy, if anything causing her to draw even further into herself.

It seemed she was going to have to learn to be brave while sober.

The storm had passed some time in the early hours of the morning, judging from the amount of rain that was still lying in puddles in the garden when Hinata stepped out for a walk. The Hyuuga clan had stayed up late that night discussing their course of action. In the end, they had agreed it was best for Hiashi to plead Hanabi's case to the Hyuuga council, as hers was only a matter of engagement, and there was still Neji's marriage to Temari to soften the offense to Suna.

But she had had a difficult time making them see straight – at first both Hiashi and Hanabi had insisted on calling off her marriage to Sasuke. They were used to her being the weak and timid one, and so it was natural that they want to defend her. But she was tired of being the one who had to be protected. It was time for her to be the big sister.

Crossing the arched bridge in the Hyuuga compound gardens with her hands deep in her coat pockets, Hinata wondered if she could really go through with it. The wedding was planned for two months away, the earliest they could set up an occasion with an appropriate amount of grandeur. If she was going to act, she had best act now.

She could run. Kurenai would take her in. The jounin could get the Hokage to call off the wedding, but… Hinata could not bear to walk away from her family, not now, when after a lifetime of strife they had finally come together. So much had changed in the last twenty-four hours. Neji and Hiashi had spoken to each other as equals, and her father had told her he loved her.

She wished she did not have to go anywhere. But even if she did not run, she would have to move. She wondered if she would even be allowed to be a part of the Hyuuga clan anymore, or if she would be absorbed into _his_ clan.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Some carp were swimming in the pond beneath the bridge. Two crossed paths, a pure white one and a bright orange one, and for a heartbeat she thought they would collide – but it turned out the white one had been up higher than the other, and he passed above. Sometimes it was hard to gauge the depth of things beneath the water.

Could she really become his wife? Sasuke was a traitor who had left Konoha seeking revenge. Her father did not trust him. Even the council didn't, though her marriage was their idea. She guessed this must be their way of trying to control him.

In the end, Sasuke had returned. He had played an essential part in the restoration of the village. Her father was quick to forget that, but she had not. He was Naruto's friend, after all. She did not know him well. When she had seen their team together, it had always been Naruto that she kept her eyes trained on.

But she knew enough about him to know that he would never love her. He had hurt his teammates, including Sakura, who had begged him to stay. She knew that Sakura loved him, as did many of the girls in Konoha. She'd always thought that was just another way in which she was odd – she was attracted to the one guy that no ones else was. But no matter how many girls had professed their love to Sasuke, he had shunned them all, and broken all their hearts.

He wouldn't break her heart.

It was already broken.

She could think of it now with a small smile. No matter how much pain it had caused her, she had to admit it was so like Naruto to wake up after his battle with Pein and not remember a word of her confession. And she had never found it in herself to do it again. There had been no other opportunity for her elusive courage to show itself. And then, one year after the invasion, Naruto had gone to visit the lands once known as the whirlpool country, where his mother had been born.

He had returned with a wife.

There was no one else Hinata wanted. There was no one else for which she felt the same way she did for Naruto; only her teammates came close, but they were more like family, more like Neji was to her, and she knew they felt the same way about her.

So. She would marry Sasuke. In a way, she thought she was better prepared than any other girl in the village.

Hinata continued her walk, out of the Hyuuga compound and into the village. The sun was bright, causing her head to ache even worse, so she kept her gaze on the ground. After a while she realized that her steps were leading her to Kurenai's apartment, but she felt fairly certain she was not going there to seek aid. She just wanted to talk to her sensei.

But when she opened the door, it was Kiba who answered. Eyes downcast, he stepped aside to let her through.

That was about as unlike Kiba as you could get.

Her gaze went pat him to Shino, sitting at the table in the kitchen. "Where's Kurenai sensei?" she asked.

"Out," Kiba said, sitting down across from Shino. "She'll be back soon."

Kurenai had always been there when they needed to talk. When Asuma had died, they had all been there for her in return. They were a very supportive team. Hinata had the feeling it was because of her that they had become so in the first place.

"So, what's up?" Kiba was trying to smile, his fangs bared, but the effect was more of a snarl. Hinata cringed. He just wasn't an actor. His face was disturbingly pale, his Inuzuka facial markings standing out like spots of blood. Akamary, lying on the floor behind Kiba's chair, was also a dead giveaway. She'd only seen the nin-dog look that forlorn when Kiba was gravely injured.

Hinata looked to her quiet teammate. Shino was always harder to read, especially now that he covered most of his face, but over the years she had learned how to read him. The key was his eyebrows, which were now drawn together in consternation.

Hinata drew in a deep breath. "S-so… You've heard?"

All three of them raised their eyes to look at her, but something was wrong. From Kiba's startled look, she had guessed wrong.

"No. Oh no, Hinata. Don't tell me they've arranged a marriage for you too." When she did not deny it, he slammed his fist down on the table. "They can't do this to us!"

"Hinta." Shino's voice was quiet and urgent. "Who?"

She told them everything.

When she was done, the color had come back into Kiba's face sure enough, but not for the reasons she might have wished.

"There's no way we're going to let them force you to marry the Uchiha!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

Shino surprised her. "It's Hinata's decision."

Kiba snorted. "Just like it was our decision."

"What?" Hinata was lost at first, then she grasped onto the meaning of what she'd been hearing. "Wait. Tell me what happened."

Kiba crossed his arms, scowling over at Shino before beginning to tell the story. "Well, this morning mom woke me up earlier than usual." If Hinata had been Ino, perhaps, she might have laughed at him because he still depended on his mother to wake him up. But Hinata was not Ino. "She told me we had to get ready to see the council. So, of course, Akamaru and I decided it was clan business. We weren't phased at first, not until we got into the council hall, and everone started looking at us funny.

"Then, when we got into the room where the council meets, I see Shino standing with his clan, and that blue-haried Anbu, with hers."

"Yugao-san," said Hinata. "Please go on."

"And then they started talking about marriage. That's when I knew we were in for it."

Akamaru whimpered from where he lay on the floor. Hinata pulled out a chair to sit between her teammates. "Oh, Kiba-kun. Who is it?"

"That's the worst part of it! We don't even know. They're from Iwagakure. The council says they're supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks."

Hinata looked at Shino, whose eyebrows had settled back into their usual positions. She knew that meant nothing, though. No matter how dutiful Shino was to his clan, he was not going to go through with this… or was he?

_She _was, after all. And he'd defended her decision.

For nowhere near the first time in her life, Hinata didn't know what to say.

-----------------------

Shikamaru yawned as he walked out of the yakiniku shop. Chouji had not been there, nor had he been at any of their other haunts that Shikamaru had checked. He'd thought for certain that, if nothing else, his friend would be eating, but Chouji was nowhere to be found.

It was troublesome, but Shikamaru thought he'd better find him.

Before he notified the Hokage that his friend was missing-nin, however, he thought it best to check his home.

Shikamaru knocked on Chouji's door. No answer, but that was no big surprise. With a sigh, he sat down and pulled out a bag of chips. It was a pain, having to eat the whole bag himself. He really didn't even like potato chips all that much – something about having the smell of them around all the time must have put him off them.

Anticipating Chouji's attack, he put the last chip to his mouth.

It crunched between his teeth.

What the hell? Shikamaru let the rest of the chip fall from his fingers as he stood. So Chouji wasn't here after all. Now he was concerned.

He was about to walk back to the village when he heard it. The door sliding open.

Chouji stood there. He looked more dejected that Shikamaru had ever seen him, his eyes rimmed with red.

"Chouji! What happened?"

"Come inside," his friend said.

Chouji's room was the same as always, with posters advertising meat companies and pictures of food hanging on the walls. Apart from the food wrappers strewn about, everything appeared to be in neat order.

Chouji slid the door shut. "It's our moms!" he wailed. "They've gone crazy. Yesterday they decided that Ino and should get married, and now she's going to think I have crush on her or something, and then she's going to hate me! You know how she feels about – about big-boned people!"

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down." Shikamaru held up his hands as if trying to stop an avalanche. "You say our mothers arranged this? As in, my mother _too_?"

Chouji nodded miserably.

Shikamaru held a hand to his face. "Oh please."

"You're not taking this seriously!" Chouji accused, face flushing in anger. "You don't understand. It's a whole lot worse than it sounds. When I try to talk to mom, she pretends she can't hear me, and when I went to tell dad, he just laughed and told me about how he and mom were awkward around each other when they first met. I think she's convinced him that Ino and I are in love or something!"

"Hmm." Shikamaru scratched his head. "This is troublesome."

"Shikamaru," Chouji pleaded, "you've got to help me!"

"Well, I'm sure we can think of a way out of this." Shikamaru was already starting to plan. "But we're going to need Ino's help…"

Chouji, who had stopped fretting and even given Shikamaru a brief, hopeful smile, looked stricken again at the sound of Ino's name. "You've got to talk to her, tell her it wasn't my idea!"

"Why can't you do it?" Shikamaru asked, annoyed that his train of thought had been interrupted.

Chouji's face turned red. "I just – I just can't."

"Hmm." Shikamaru studied his friend's face, not certain of what he saw there. "Fine. I need to talk to her anyway."

---------------------------

"Thank you so much, Tenten." Kurenai watched her son squirming in the younger kunoichi's arms as she tickled him. "You're a life saver."

Tenten smiled and scratched her head. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm glad I could help." She glanced at Kurenai's companion, hanging back, her eyes downcast. "I know this is a rough time for everyone. Tell your students they're in my thoughts."

"Thanks," said Kurenai, smiling gently at Tenten. "I'll let them know."

She didn't know the girl very well, but she'd had to find a last minute babysitter, and Tenten seemed to be one of the few kunoichi around whose life wasn't in a state of complete chaos. No matter how sorry Tenten felt for Kurenai's teammates, she was no doubt ecstatic that the council seemed to have overlooked her when they made their plans.

She wondered what Tenten would say if Kurenai informed her she had been chosen as the first alternate in the event that any one of the council's planned marriages fall through.

As the door closed and Kurenai turned back to the street, she felt Yugao fall in beside her.

"She'd better know how lucky she is," the ANBU said bitterly.

"She does," Kurenai assured her, making certain not to let a trace of impatience show in her voice. Yugao was a few years younger than her, and sometimes more prone to emotional outburst than she ought to be, especially as an ANBU. But Kurenai thought her age probably had little to do with it. Still, Yugao was her friend, and there was no way she could blame her for being angry now, not even when she chose an innocent target for it.

She hadn't known the younger woman until a couple of years ago. When she had heard of Hayate's death, she had felt pity for her, and had sent her some flowers. Then, when Asuma had died, Yugao had come out of nowhere to help her through it. They had shared their experiences, and then had become fast friends. Yugao had been with her when Yoshiro was born.

There was nothing she wouldn't do for her friend. She just wished there were something she _could _do to help her, and her students as well.

"If you don't go through with your marriage, she will be the one who will have to do it," Kurenai reminded her sternly.

"I know. And that's why I can't stand her right now."

Kurenai shook her head and sighed. "If your places were switched, would you be dying to take her place? I don't think so."

Yugao shot her a quick glare. "No. But your student, perhaps. She is older, and we all know that Hinata is shy."

Kurenai felt herself getting offended on her former student's behalf, even though there was nothing untrue in Yugao's words. It was just that, once you got to know Hinata, you realized there were a lot of words that described her better than shy, for instance, unfalteringly loyal, honest, humble, and brave as a lioness when those she loved were threatened. Shy didn't even begin to scratch the surface of Hinata's personality.

"Hinata is better suited to the task," she said, knowing that the one her student loved was already married to another, and the one she suspected Tenten loved – well, she was going to be going through enough in the near future without having to enter into an assigned marriage. "Did you hear that Neji is to marry Temari of Suna?"

Yugao's rosebud mouth curled at the mention of Suna. "He'd be better off dead that married to one of them."

Suddenly Kurenai couldn't' take it any more. She grabbed her friend by the collar and pushed her against the nearest wall. "If I could take your place, I would, Yugao."

All at once, she witness Yugao's look turn from one of intense hatred to one of utter despair. She went limp in Kurenai's grasp, and her eyelids fell shut. "I'm so sorry Kurenai. It's just… I keep wondering what Hayate would think. Is this betraying his memory? And even if he wanted me to find someone else, he would want me to be happy. He would tell me to fight this."

Kurenai felt unease settle in her stomach. Sometimes it was hard to tell the right way. "Hayate died for Konoha. He would have wanted you to be happy, of course, but he was aware that your duty to Konoha came first, just as his did."

She released her friend, and Yugao slid down the wall. Kurenai gripped her arm to support her. "Come on. We all need a drink."

As they walked back to her apartment, Kurenai tried to think of ways to cheer Yugao up. She remembered, after Asuma's death, her friend would always tell her funny stories about things that had happened in the ANBU. So Kurenai related the saga of her toddler son's adventures, and by the time they reached their destination, Yugao was smiling weakly.

They opened the door to find her three students waiting.

"Hinata." Kurenai stopped in the door. "I didn't expect you, but it's just as well that you're here. We're all going out for sake."

"Sake?" Came Kiba's loud, incredulous voice from Hinata's right. "I thought we were coming up with a plan. Don't we need to be clear-headed for that?"

Kurenai hesitated before turning to face her most outgoing student. Her only outgoing student. But though he was the loudest and the roughest, in so many ways, he was the most fragile.

Her heart skipped a beat as she met his fierce eyes. Odd, how that fierceness was the very thing that made him soft.

"Kiba…"

"What?" He looked at them all in disbelief. "D-don't tell me," he spluttered, "that you mean to – Hinata?" His gaze moved to the kunoichi, widening. "We can't let them do this to her."

"Kiba," Kurenai said, more firmly this time. "There is a lot at stake here. The four of you," she took a deep breath, "come from four different ninja clans. If all four of you back out, there will be four clans for me to appease, and not only those four, but also the clans from Iwagakure that are involved. Not to mention, of course, how angry the councils will be." She blew out a breath. "The Kazekage is also arranged to marry a girl from Iwagakure. If our attempt at and alliance falls through, who's to say that Sand may decide that their alliance with Rock precedes theirs with us."

Kurenai met Kiba's eyes, unsurprised at the despair she saw there, but aware that it was no greater than her own. "Do you really want to start another Ninja War?"

Kiba gazed at her for a long moment, the anger rising up in him visibly as his face turned red and he bared his teeth in a snarl. "What is a team good for if we can't help each other out of situations like this?"

Kurenai wished someone else would answer. _She _certainly didn't know what to say to him. But no one else seemed to be able to find the words, so she had to fumble for the right thing to say. "If you truly can't beat to go through with this, then talk to your mother. I'm sure she'll under – "

"No, sensei," he snapped. He turned his glare from her to rest on his two teammates: Hinata hunkering down in her chair, looking as though she wished she were anywhere else, and Shino, trying to look impassive. "We're a team. If the rest of you are going to be cowards, I have no choice but to stick in there with you."

His gaze moved around the room like a bird looking for safe purchase. Kurenai didn't understand why, but when she saw his face twisted into an expression so feral, like that of a wild animal backed into a corner, she felt a pang in her heart.

"Kiba…"

But he had turned for the door and was gone before she could think of something worth saying.

-----------------------

"Shikamaru!" Ino jumped off her bed and threw open the window for him.

"Quiet." Shikamaru winced as he climbed into her room. "I'd rather not alert your mother to my presence."

"Oh. Of course." Ino glanced down at the floor, through which could be heard the slightly maniacal laughter of Team Ten's mothers.

Shikamaru studied her puffy eyes and disheveled blonde hair. Allowing him to see her unkempt was so uncharacteristic of her it was eerie. "You look even worse than Chouji."

"Chouji!" Ino's eyes widened. "Have you talked to him?"

"Yeah." He made his way over to sit on the bed. It was telling of Ino's distress that didn't object, or really even seem to notice. Usually she would have pushed him off, hissing like a cat, telling him it was presumptuous and indecent, and when he tried to explain to her that it was all right because he didn't think of her that way, it only served to make her even angrier.

"Chouji told me what's going on."

He had more to say, but Ino seemed to decide he was inviting her to lay all her troubles bare.

"Mom woke me up this morning to tell me she had the best news, and I thought maybe she had decided to buy me that blue dress that I want, or that dad was going to get some sort of award, but then she took me to see your mom and Chouji's and they told me how they knew we were in love," she waved her arms as if in denial, "and when I told them it wasn't true, they just smiled and said they could see right through me." Ino sighed. "I wish I had never woken up this morning. Anyway, I haven't had a chance to talk to dad yet. When he gets home, he'll sort this out." She paused. "But… I don't want to hurt Chouji's feelings." She gave Shikamaru a pleading look. "You'll talk to him, won't you? Explain to him that I like him as a friend, but I'm just not ready for this yet – "

Shikamaru wasn't about to let her go any further. "Chouji wanted me to tell you that this wasn't his idea. His mom is forcing him into it."

"Oh, well, of course I didn't think – " Ino spluttered, her face turning red. "Of course Chouji wouldn't – "

"Of course he wouldn't." Shikamaru felt a prickling of annoyance on his friend's behalf. "Why would he want to marry someone who's always picking on him about his weight?" Seeing the stricken look on Ino's face, he looked away and changed the subject. "I've been working on a plan to put an end to this mess."

Ino's face brightened. "What do you have in mind?"

-------------------------------

Sasuke was heading back to the apartment for the night, exhausted by boredom, when he saw her.

Her dark purple hair blended in with the darkness, but he would recognize those distinct eyes anywhere. It was odd to think that at one time, after noticing her eyes, he would have dismissed her at once when he realized she was not her cousin, Neji. Him, Sasuke had wanted to fight, to measure himself up against. Hinata had been beneath his notice.

Now the sight of her inspired a well of curiosity in him.

She was walking in the opposite direction, headed, he supposed, for the Hyuuga compound. He watched her as they grew closer. She seemed distracted, her eyes focused on the ground in front of her. Poor behavior for someone who was supposed to be a Jounin.

When they were about to pass each other, he stopped.

"Hinata."

She looked up, startled at hearing her name spoken. When her eyes found him, they widened. "Oh."

Sasuke watched as she trembled, searching for words to say to him. He frowned. Why did she have to be so timid? He glanced around and noticed a few people looking their way. With the council so mistrustful of him, it was better to avoid making a scene.

"It's late," he said. "I'll walk you home."

"Ah… Hai."

He nodded and turned around. After he'd gone a few steps, he began to doubt that she was actually going to follow, but then he heard the unmistakable sound of her walking behind him.

That annoyed him. He wanted to study her, to find out things about her, but he couldn't do that if she stayed behind him the whole time.

He stopped. "Hinata. Is it against the rules of your clan to walk beside me?" He angled his head to look back at her.

She had one hand raised in front of her, like a poor attempt at defense, and her gaze was lowered to the ground. He looked for a blush on her cheeks, but even in the dim light of the streetlamps he could tell that she had gone even paler than usual.

The thought crossed his mind that something was wrong with her. He tried to remember what he would say to Sakura at a time like this. He always seemed to be able to cheer her up. But, looking back, he could think of nothing. He'd never had to go out of his way for Sakura. Just his presence was enough to make her happy.

But Hinata looked like she wished she were somewhere else, like she wished she hadn't crossed paths tonight. Like she wished nothing more than that he would just go away.

And that was when it occurred to him.

Hinata did not even like him.

It was amazing, how much that realization felt like a blow, only Sasuke couldn't say exactly where it landed, and he certainly didn't understand why. It wasn't as though he'd never met anyone who hated him before. Even his teammates hated him, in their highly individual ways, though they would fight to the death beside him. Not Karin, of course. But she was a girl.

Girls never hated him.

It seemed he had finally found one who did.

"Um." He couldn't shake the feeling that suddenly came over him, a mixture of loneliness and helplessness. When he had imagined settling down with a wife and reviving the Uchiha clan, he'd always imagined Sakura or Ino, or any number of girls who would do anything to please him. He would be detached, but he would have her undying love and loyalty nonetheless. That situation, he could be content with. This one, he could not.

Sasuke felt his brow crease in frustration. Suddenly, he wanted nothing more than to extricate himself from her presence. He stepped out of Hinata's way.

"Go," he told her.

Before she went, she looked up at him.

It was for less than a second that his eyes met hers, but for a reason he could not explain, his sharingan activated, and that fraction of a second seemed much, much longer. Later, he would replay the moment in his mind over and over again, analyzing the look she gave him.

Her wide, pale eyes, hard to read though they were, were creased with sadness. No matter how many times he reconstructed the look in his visual memory, it never said anything different than it had the first time.

It said, "I'm sorry."

Who was she to be sorry for him?

----------------------

Shikamaru stepped out of the shadows as his father walked past. "Dad."

Shikaku grunted, pretending not to have seen him. "What are you doing there?"

"Dad, I want you to talk to Chouza and Inoichi."

Shikaku scratched his head. "I do, on a regular basis."

Shikamaru sighed. "Cut the nonsense, dad. You know what's going on."

"Hnn." Shikaku frowned at him. "I don't really see that there's much I can do about it."

"Why not? They'll listen to you. All they need to know is that their wives are wrong, and Ino and Chouji don't want to get married."

Shikaku leaned against the wall. "Well, that's the problem. You see, our wives are never wrong."

"This doesn't involve mom."

His father looked at him levelly. "Actually, it does. And that's why _I _refuse to get involved, especially if it's on the opposite side."

Shikamaru groaned. "Dad, you're such a pushover when it comes to mom."

Shikaku chose to ignore his son's comment. "Anyway, why are you so concerned with other people's business? You ought to be worried about your own girl."

"Mine?" Shikamaru gave him a look of indignant puzzlement that they both knew was not real. Temari was… difficult, but he had been finding it harder and harder to avoid her, mainly because he didn't really want to. Last time he had seen her, they had agreed to go on a date the next time she was in Konoha.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his neck and looked away. "What do you mean?"

"Instead of thinking up a plan to separate your friends, you should be thinking about how to steal your girl back from the Hyuuga prodigy."

Shikamaru could have sworn that for a moment his heart stopped beating. "What?" he asked weakly. "She never said she was…"

"She wasn't," Shikaku interrupted. "The councils have agreed they should marry in order to form an alliance." He clapped his son on the shoulder. "Sleep well tonight, huh?"

Shikamaru watched his father's back disappear into his parents' room. His heart, making up for lost time, was pounding away against his breastbone. Lazy as he was, it had only ever beat that way when he was loosing a battle, or facing death.

Temari.

She was more trouble than she was worth, but… still, he'd gotten used to her. At this point, it would be more troublesome to get accustomed to not having her around again.

If Shikamaru was not going to let his friends be forced into an arranged marriage, he sure as hell was not going to loose Temari to one either.


End file.
